Breast Center patients now get needed services under one roof

Women sometimes drive for hours to see Tucson surgeon Eric Whitacre, and often with concerns they want clarified quickly.

When an additional mammogram screening is needed, a drive back home and return visit another day can compound an already stressful time.

That’s not something they have to contend with anymore.

During the last week, Whitacre’s Breast Center of Southern Arizona started working with another Tucson-based company, Assured Imaging, so patients can now do initial or follow-up screenings right at the center, 6288 E. Grant Road.

These combined services, which appear to be a first for Tucson, according to several who work in related fields, is a relief for Brandy Bien of Safford, who will be returning to see Whitacre next month for a followup.

After an initial screening showed a breast abnormality, she was referred to Whitacre and got good news: Nothing was wrong. She is returning in July to make sure nothing has changed, she said, and she’ll take care of the follow-up mammogram screening and consultation during the same visit.

“That’s the biggest part of it, that I have to drive two hours just to get to Dr. Whitacre’s practice,” said Bien, who works full time as an investigator for Arizona’s Department of Child Safety. “This is much more convenient.”

This is the first time Assured Imaging has set up a collaboration with a surgeon, said Joe Shafe, the company’s vice president of sales.

In addition to other brick-and-mortar sites, the company — which is owned by Shafe and his father, Rick — runs 20 mobile-health buses in Arizona as well as in New Mexico, Texas, Georgia and Washington. The company employs about 140 people.

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In addition to mammography, Assured Imaging provides bone density tests, dermatological checks, heart health screenings, diabetic screenings and colorectal cancer screenings. It offers 3-D imaging, which Shafe said provides radiologists and surgeons with more information than before.

For years, Shafe said, the company’s focus has been on serving women living in rural areas, where there aren’t as many services available. Women who can’t afford the testing can apply for aid through a nonprofit set up by Assured Imaging to help poor patients, he said.

The company is now also bringing mobile services to corporations so women don’t have to miss work to get medical screenings.

Assured Imaging offered to collaborate with the Breast Center a while back, and the two companies will continue to operate independently from each other, with separate check-in and billing.

“This is more convenient and efficient from the patient’s standpoint,” said Whitacre, who has had a practice in Tucson since 2003. “A number of patients we see come in from all over the Southwest.”

Whitacre said he often needs additional screenings so he can determine what’s needed.

“We’ve often said, ‘If only we had a more intense study of that area,’ “ he said. “Now we’re better able to assess the problem. The more valid and useful tools I have to focus on a problem, the better it is for the patient.”

Anita Kellman, Whitacre’s patient navigator and founder of Beat Cancer Boot Camp, added, “So many times, we see patients who say, ‘I wish I could just get my mammogram here.’”